For the past few months, I've been having stencil angst. Yes, actual angst over an actual piece of plastic for cookie decorating. For real.

Maybe you feel this way, too....but sometimes I see pictures of other decorated cookies that are utter perfection and I'm paralyzed. Cookie paralyzed.

For example, I love the look stencils can give cookies (you can find some really great ones here). I ordered several and read up on the best way to use them. Then, I gave it a try, didn't think they were "perfect" enough,and tossed them.

I stashed the stencils away, but I thought about them a LOT.

Fast forward to last month...we spent a few hours at our town's art festival. The art was beautiful, inspiring, creative...and guess what? Not perfect. Actually, the art that was more quirky, less perfect, more real was the art that was my favorite.

And hello, Bridget. These are cookies we're talking about, not the Sistine Chapel.

When I had the chance to make some thank you cookies, I busted out the stencils again. No airbrush, no special stencil magnets, no angst. (Ok, a little angst.)

I guess what I'm trying to say here is...don't let the fear of imperfection keep you from creating.

In the end, I kind of love that the stenciling on the cookies is a little wonky.

Let's make a deal. Let's try to not be paralyzed by the fear of imperfection. Maybe we won't strive for wonky, but let's embrace it and find the beauty in the rustic, the homemade, the flawed.

Use #2 tips to outline the cookies with ivory and turquoise icing. Reserve some of this piping consistency icing before thinning.

Thin the ivory and turquoise icings with water, a bit at a time,
stirring with a silicone spatula, until it is the consistency of a
thick syrup. (Reserve some of the white icing for piping details
later.) You'll want to drop a "ribbon" of icing back into the bowl
and have it disappear in a count of "one thousand one, one thousand
two." Four is too thick, one is too thin. Count of 2-3 is good. Cover
with a damp dishcloth and let sit for several minutes.

Stir gently with a silicone spatula to pop and large air bubbles that have formed. Pour into squeeze bottles.

Fill in the outlines with the thinned
icing, using a toothpick to guide to the edges and to pop large air
bubbles.

Let the cookies dry at least one hour.

For the "thank you" cookies: Use star tips to make rosettes with the star tips in the pink icing. Use #3 or #4 tips to pipe the base of swirly flowers in peach icing. Switch the tips on the pink to #1 and add a swirl on top of the peach icing.

For the chevron cookies: Let the base color dry completely before stenciling. Place the cookie on a small plate and the plate on a cookie sheet. Rest the stencil lightly over the top of the cookie, and spray a light coating of gold spray evenly over the top. Gently lift the stencil off of the cookie, and blot it before placing it onto another cookie.

Thank you for the reminder that art doesn't need to be perfect-it just needs to be made with love. Not a day goes by that I don't struggle with that same need to make something 'perfect'.(psst....love color mist so much more than my airbrush!!!)

Bridget, I found this post in my emails this morning...sent to me by my sweet hubby!!! And you are RIGHT!! They're only cookies, they don't have to be perfect!! He's so funny, and does so much to keep me grounded...he knows I get carried away sometimes. Your posts over the years have meant alot to me, and I find your philosophy much the same as mine in a lot of ways. Happy baking to you, too!! Sharon from The Plaid Cookie Co.

I had the urge to say, "preach" as I read this post! I have the perfection disease, and it's my nemesis! It can really steal the joy from something that is supposed to be fun! So many times I have found the flaws in things I make...rather than enjoying the beauty, the rustic, the homemade. You really are my hero! XO

As a newbie wanting to do all those beautiful designs I see, this was a breath of fresh cookie air!!!! I had not thought it could be done other than an air-brush, which is not in my budget. I love your blog and the way you speak cookie :)

Those cookies are looking absolutely perfect! They are a dream to receive! It's always scary to do something creative and show it to the world, but it's also fantastic. And if it doesn't work, we can always throw things away and start over right?

I love this post and these cookies are BEAUTIFUL! Sometimes when I see PERFECT cookies they almost look manufactured, so I console myself that mine look personal and homemade:) My problem lately is tiny air bubbles (all over) that I just can't seem to get rid of...major angst!

BEAUTIFUL cookies! BEAUTIFUL post! Thank you for sharing your cookie angst with us because I don't know about everybody else, but I definitely get it. Like, every single set, get it. I worry that it isn't good enough, that I will disappoint, but I'm getting better at embracing the wonky. You are awesome!

Thank you for this post.....I'm a little behind on my reading ;) This came at the best time for me. I've started loosing the love I have had for cookie decorating. Reading this made me realize the reason I started decorating in the first place........my family. They do not care about any imperfections. What I make for them is perfect in their eyes. So for me? It's back to the beginning. Back to baking and watching my family light up and be impressed!!

You are so kind to showcase your cookies and show us how to make them too! Your cookies are beautiful! I just made these cookies for my daughter's prom (very small Catholic school with only 40 seniors) and I think they turned out great! It took me three days from start to finish, but it was so worth it. I also made your yellow rose butter cookies for a benefit we had at church last week honoring Sister Catherine McCauley. The attendees of the dinner absolutely loved them. Thanks again for sharing your talent!

I need help when using two colors of icing. Why does one color bleed Into the other? I made my decals two days in advance, they had plenty of time to dry. I placed them on semi dry flooded cookies, looked great the first day. The next day,the maroon decal had started to bleed on the white cookie. HELP!

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Welcome to Bake at 350! I'm Bridget and I like all things sweet...especially cookie decorating. I hope you'll find some inspiration here. So, grab a chair (and a cookie) and let's get baking! [read more here >>]